President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday approved Nigeria’s proposed bid to host the 2026 CAF Awards ceremony and formally endorsed a plan for the country to host the Confederation of African Football’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly later this year.
Tinubu announced the approvals on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, after meeting CAF President Patrice Motsepe and a Nigerian delegation that included Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Samson Adamu, Ibrahim Gusau and Amaju Pinnick.
The approvals cover two continent-wide events: the CAF Awards, an annual showpiece that rewards Africa’s best footballers and stakeholders, and the Ordinary General Assembly, which is scheduled for October and will gather presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations and senior officials from across the continent.
Those numbers underline why the decisions matter now. Hosting the 48th Ordinary General Assembly in October would mean Nigeria plays host to presidents from all 54 member associations and representatives from the six zonal unions at a meeting CAF uses to set policy and elect leadership.
CAF said Motsepe and Tinubu met on the sidelines of the summit and discussed cooperation between government, football and the private sector in Nigeria and across Africa; the organization’s statement framed the conversation as part of broader collaboration efforts between the parties.
The approvals also carry recent precedent: Nigeria last hosted the CAF Awards gala on January 6, 2017, when Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez won the men’s best player award and Asisat Oshoala took the women’s prize.
Tension arrives at the gap between national sign-off and continental ratification. Tinubu’s approval puts Nigeria forward domestically, but CAF must still decide which city will host both the awards ceremony and the Ordinary General Assembly. CAF is expected to make a final decision on the host city for both events soon.
That outstanding choice is the most consequential detail left: which Nigerian city, if any, CAF will name as host. Until CAF announces its selection, the approvals establish political backing and a national bid but not the final award of either event.
For now, Tinubu’s public sign-off and the Nairobi meeting with Motsepe place Nigeria squarely in contention for the 2026 CAF Awards and the October assembly; the continent will wait for CAF’s forthcoming decision on city hosts to turn approval into concrete plans.
